Honest to God.. why in the world would there be a TEAM in MLB interested in Kevin Brown? Even if the Yankees paid HALF of the $15 million they owe him next season, why is he an attractive option when there are so many other pitchers available, FA's trades, etc... ? Other than a couple of good starts in late September, and a decent outing vs Minn. in ALDS, what has he show since Aug. 1 that would make him attractive at $7 or $8 million for '05?

Pacman wrote:Honest to God.. why in the world would there be a TEAM in MLB interested in Kevin Brown? Even if the Yankees paid HALF of the $15 million they owe him next season, why is he an attractive option when there are so many other pitchers available, FA's trades, etc... ? Other than a couple of good starts in late September, and a decent outing vs Minn. in ALDS, what has he show since Aug. 1 that would make him attractive at $7 or $8 million for '05?

Honestly, I think the Yanks are stuck with him.

I think they'd have a much easier time trading Vazquez.

Vaz is clearly easier to trade, but I wouldn't want to trade him anyway.

As for Brown, crazier things have happened; remember, Mike Hampton and his salary were traded, twice

Pacman wrote:Honest to God.. why in the world would there be a TEAM in MLB interested in Kevin Brown? Even if the Yankees paid HALF of the $15 million they owe him next season, why is he an attractive option when there are so many other pitchers available, FA's trades, etc... ? Other than a couple of good starts in late September, and a decent outing vs Minn. in ALDS, what has he show since Aug. 1 that would make him attractive at $7 or $8 million for '05?

Honestly, I think the Yanks are stuck with him.

I think they'd have a much easier time trading Vazquez.

Vaz is clearly easier to trade, but I wouldn't want to trade him anyway.

the only way that Brown is going to be able to be traded is if the Yanks eat about 10 million of his pay...As for Brown, crazier things have happened; remember, Mike Hampton and his salary were traded, twice

Pacman wrote:Honest to God.. why in the world would there be a TEAM in MLB interested in Kevin Brown? Even if the Yankees paid HALF of the $15 million they owe him next season, why is he an attractive option when there are so many other pitchers available, FA's trades, etc... ? Other than a couple of good starts in late September, and a decent outing vs Minn. in ALDS, what has he show since Aug. 1 that would make him attractive at $7 or $8 million for '05?

Honestly, I think the Yanks are stuck with him.

I think they'd have a much easier time trading Vazquez.

Vaz is clearly easier to trade, but I wouldn't want to trade him anyway.

the only way that Brown is going to be able to be traded is if the Yanks eat about 10 million of his pay...As for Brown, crazier things have happened; remember, Mike Hampton and his salary were traded, twice

Bill Nye wrote:Would you rather that the Ynankees go into another postseason with an all-right-handed staff?

I know. I was so impressed with all of the lefties that Boston trotted out there on their way to the title. I will take quality righties over token lefties any time.

WharfRat wrote:Bring back Gene Michael, says I. He stood up to Steinbrenner. Cashman and his crew has become Steinbrenner's little monkey boys, I'm convinced. Instead of making smart baseball decisions, they just do what'll make Stein happy.

IMHO, that has nothing to do with it. Stick is a great baseball mind but where this successful run started is when George was suspended from baseball for the Winfield fiasco and the baseball people were able to do their jobs. That's where the Williams, O'Neills, Pettittes, etc. came from. They were allowed to do their jobs and develop players. Once George came back, he saw how successfull this was and he left it alone for the time being. Now, he is going back to the old George.

WharfRat wrote:

blankman wrote:

WharfRat wrote:Bring back Gene Michael, says I. He stood up to Steinbrenner. Cashman and his crew has become Steinbrenner's little monkey boys, I'm convinced. Instead of making smart baseball decisions, they just do what'll make Stein happy.

Think about it. The man has his career and his family to think of; he knows that if he says the wrong thing, he's fired. It would be no different with anyone else. The problem is not Cashman, its George.

a) The Yankees built a dynasty with Stein because the baseball guys did their jobs and stood up to George when they had to (and Boggs helped too, of course). A lot of those guys are now gone or in lesser roles, or have simply let Steinbrenner take back over, and the pattern for acquisitions has steadily devolved to where they throw money at free agents with, at times, a lack of rhyme or reason, or common sense. Stein just needs to be put in his place by the right person. b) Cashman's career? His family?? You really think if he were fired, he wouldn't be able to get a front-office job for another team? He's done a less-than-spectacular job lately, so that would hurt his chances. But if he got fired for trying to make a smart move, or rejecting Steinbrenner's retarded advice, people would see that. He'd rather be a handcuffed GM with the Yankees than an able GM elsewhere, I guess. Unless I'm missing something completely.

And yes, I know he started out terrifically--or did he? You could make the case that the dynasty teams were the teams created by Showalter, Michael, Boggs and Torre, and they faded steadily every year. Now, I could easily be wrong--but it's at least something to think about.

Please see above. I don't really think that standing up to him has much to do with it. Blaming anything on Cashman is short-sighted. George didn't like Pettitte. He has always been enamoured with other team's free agents rather than his own. It's hard for Cashman to do his job when George is putting $15-20M disappointments in his face.